Cranberries are in season apparently.

A lot can happen in a week! First of all, let me share my favorite recipes from this week:
Cranberry Scones! Delish. When I moved to the East coast, I quickly learned that "scones" are not fried bread dough with honey butter and cinnamon/sugar on them. They are actually this biscuit-like goodness. Here ya go:


I don't remember what I did with the recipe, so... go look one up. They're really good.

Next:
Ok. This was the BEST idea anybody ever had!

10-minute Apple Crisp Recipe
Ingredients:
Filling-
• 1 apple, peeled and thickly sliced
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon cornstarch
Crisp Topping-
• 1 ½ tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons oats
• 2 tablespoons flour
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
Directions:
Starting with the crisp topping: Heat a small frying pan on med-high and cook/fry the all the ingredients for the crisp topping mixture until it is a darkened golden brown making sure to constantly stir so it doesn’t burn (approx. 3 min). Remove from heat and set aside.
In a small mixing bowl combine sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cornstarch. Add sliced apples and with your hand, massage the dry ingredients into the slices until all the dry mix is used up. Place apple mixture in a microwavable cereal bowl, cover with plastic wrap (folding some of it back to vent it), and microwave for 4 minutes. Remove from microwave and add crisp topping and gently press it down into the apple mixture with the back of a spoon. Place the bowl back in the microwave and heat for 30 seconds. Remove from microwave and allow to cool for 2-3 minutes. Top off with vanilla ice cream and enjoy!



And then today I made CRANBERRY BREAD! (I needed to use the rest of the fresh cranberries from the scones). After waiting half a day to find a bread pan, I finally got my hands on one and made THIS:


Cranberry Bread: (makes 1 loaf)
(Adapted from Ocean Spray's Classic Cranberry Nut Bread)
• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 cup orange juice
• 2 tablespoons butter (softened) or vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon grated orange peel
• 1 egg well beaten
• 1 1/2 cup roughly chopped fresh cranberries
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract ( my addition to the recipe)
Preheat the oven to 350F

Grease a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan.

Chop the Cranberries and walnuts and set aside.
In a large bowl mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.

Stir in the orange juice, orange peel, egg and butter.

Then fold in the chopped cranberries and walnuts.

Spread the mixture evenly in the greased loaf pan and bake in the oven at 350F for 55 minutes (or more).